Woman banned from singing could wind up behind bars after neighbour complaints

Apartment living can be trying when your neighbours aren’t aware their activities can be heard by the whole block, especially when their singing is so bad the culprit could wind up behind bars.

‘Bad neighbours’ are something we’ve all experienced. Right now, I’m personally dealing with a neighbour who blasts an off-key rendition of the Harry Potter Theme on clarinet every morning at 7:30am.

But tenants of a block in the UK’s Norwich have it much worse: Heather Webb’s singing is reportedly so distressing to neighbours it received a Criminal Behaviour Order by the local Magistrate’s Court.

“After a flood of complaints, Webb was handed a 24-month Criminal Behaviour Order on December 5th last year, banning her from singing loudly in her ground-floor flat,” reports UK Metro.

But it seems Webb couldn’t help herself. She breached the order three times in January and February, which resulted in a court case this week.

Webb didn’t appear in court, and was found guilty of breaching the Criminal Behaviour Order despite explaining to police she tried to minimise the impact by shutting all her windows.

Now, a no bail warrant has been issued for her arrest.

Can the singing really be that bad?

Her singing has been described by neighbours as a “drowning cat,” “erratic Opera singing” and “screeching and screaming,” with Webb able to belt out her vocals for hours at a time, and sometimes as early as 8:30am.

One of the residents downloaded a mobile phone app to record her and then sent it to the council, leading to the court case. Listen below:

Heather Webb's singing via Eastern Daily Press

A four-year feud

The feud has been going since 2014, when her neighbours filled anti-social behaviour forms and sent them to the council. Police got involved later that same year, after the council issued her with a Community Protection Warning and advised neighbours to phone in if the noise disturbances continued.

Fed-up residents complained again in 2016, but it wasn’t until December 2017 she received the two-year Criminal Behaviour Order.

The order bans her from ‘engaging in conduct which causes alarm or distress’. It also bans her from ‘playing music, singing, shouting or creating noise at a volume which can be heard outside of her property’.

It’s enough to make you think twice before belting out your favourite tune.